Whether or not you are following film awards this year, we are hoping to shed light on components behind the screen…

Best Visual Effects is awarded to movies that have shown breakthroughs in visual arts technology and cutting-edge displays on the big screen. The greater the innovation behind the technical aspects, the better a movie’s chances of winning an Academy Award for Best Visual Effects. For example, according to IndieWire, The Lion King’s Rob Legato“entertainingly touted the breakthrough virtual production along with its stunning, faux live-action aesthetic,” giving the Lion King cutting edge and unique take to visual effects. Visual Effects capture the audience and are able to transform the world of a movie into something astounding for the viewer. Movies in the past that have displayed such innovation include “First Man” and “Blade Runner”.

Best Costume Design is an award that goes beyond the clothes a character wears. “[Costumes] can make movies magical. It can be the difference between a mediocre film and a really good one,” says Shira Baker, ETHS Junior. Costumes are fundamental to transforming sets to reality and giving characters life on screen. Costumes are a part of the immersion of an audience into a different world simply through wardrobe choice. Previous winners include “Black Panther” and “The Phantom Thread,” their outstanding innovations in costume design to compliment the portrayal of characters in films.

Best Original Score is awarded to a film that has created outstanding and original compositions of music for the movie. Black Panther, The Shape of Water, and La La Land are some of the previous winners of the Best Score Academy Award.

The award is for all the songs in a film and not exclusively one, which is for the Best Original Song. Previously, “Let it Go” from Frozen, “City of Stars,” from La La Land and “Shallow,” from A Star is Born have all won Best Original Song awards.

Best Original Screenplay goes to the writers behind the scenes. Before a director even gets to the piece, Best Original Screenplay is for the words and the thought behind the stunning pictures. Screenplay winners winners are those who have an idea and can turn it into a story that compels any audience, and the people that create the framework for the artistic vision’s of directors and producers. Different from Best Adapted Screenplay, these writers are awarded for complete originality. . Previous winners of Best Original Screenplay are Green Book by Brian Currie, Peter Farrelly and Nick Vallelonga, and Get Out by Jordan Peele. Frontrunners for the 2020 Oscars, according to IndieWire, are Marriage Story and Parasite.

Makeup and Hairstyling is awarded to the film which best portrayed the theme and characters of the movie through artistic expression. The ability to transform an actor or actress into a character simply from the way they look on screen is what sets this award apart from the others. Last year’s winner, Vice, won for its notable achievement in makeup because of the artists’ abilities to change actors into political figures, completely uncrecognixable from their original appearance. It is these achievements in transformation and visual character development that win a film Best Makeup and Hairstyling.